Jurors in Jessica Lunsford Trial Won't Hear 'I Buried Her Alive'

July 11, 2006 — -- Jurors in Florida will decide whether a convicted sex offender is guilty of a 10-year-old girl's kidnapping and brutal rape and murder, but they will not hear arguably the prosecution's strongest evidence -- his alleged confession.

Jury selection begins today in the trial of John Couey, who is accused of capital murder, burglary with battery, kidnapping and sexual battery in the 2005 slaying of Jessica Lunsford.

If he's found guilty, that same jury will also decide whether he should live or die.

Police say Couey, 47, admitted abducting Jessica, raping her, and later burying her behind his house. Jurors, however, will not hear the alleged confession -- more than 100 pages' worth of testimony recorded on tape that contain Couey's account of how he allegedly lured Jessica and what he did to her.

Couey's attorneys argued -- and Citrus County Circuit Judge Ric Howard agreed -- that the conditions under which Couey had confessed violated his constitutional rights. Specifically, he was denied the right to counsel by interrogating officers who continued to question him after he mentioned the need for a lawyer.

It is on tape that Couey confessed to kidnapping, raping and killing Jessica, calling himself sick and "stupid" during the two-hour interview in March 2005. But, Howard noted in his ruling, in one exchange with the detectives, Couey invoked his right to counsel "no less than eight times in 46 seconds."

Couey's confession led police to the girl's body, which was found just after midnight the morning of March 19, 2005. Dental records helped identify it as Jessica. She was wrapped in trash bags, hands tied, with a stuffed dolphin toy between her arms. Medical examiners determined that she had been suffocated.

Couey's defense attorney argued that the discovery of Jessica's body should not be allowed in court because he told the detectives in the interview where he had buried the girl. The judge agreed with prosecutors, however, that investigators would have found her body without the confession.

Jessica was a third-grader at Homosassa Elementary School. Known as a sweet, quiet girl, her hobbies included singing karaoke and playing with her dog, Corky.

On Feb. 24, 2005 she spent the evening at church and gave her father, Mark, a customary hug good night before going to bed. Her family woke up the next morning and found she was missing from her bed.

For weeks after she went missing, there were no solid leads on the case.

She was another missing-child case, with news of her search all over the newspapers and TV airwaves.

Florida police parked outside her home as her father and grandparents frantically searched for a lost little girl.

Jessica was closer than they thought, tucked away in a closet across the street.